What is it? Twisted Western from the Coen Brothers, based on Cormac McCarthy's sparse, searing novel about the death of the Old West. A hunter (Josh Brolin) finds a suitcase full of money and runs with it; a hitman (Javier Bardem) tracks his progress in efforts to retrieve it, and a sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) picks up the pieces.

Why did it win? Many reasons: its quality, the fact that the Coens are much admired for their body of work to date, and Javier Bardem's riveting bad guy chief among them. The other nominees - Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood - were respectively too safe, too funny, too low-key and too difficult for the win.

Did it deserve to win? Arguably, yes. There Will Be Blood was probably its closest competitor in terms of quality, and might even be better, but No Country is unquestionably a great film, with a smart script, three flawless central performances and the best bowl hair cut of the century.